For many years the Southern Command was tasked with defending the
Negev and securing the border on the
Sinai Peninsula from
Egypt. The Southern Command led IDF troops in five wars against Egypt: the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, the
Suez War, the
Six-Day War, the
War of Attrition, and the
Yom Kippur War. This high operational activity and its demanding toll resulted in the Southern Command's
Alufs (SCA) being replaced fairly rapidly. The most famous leadership replacements took place in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War when
Shmuel Gonen was suspended as the SCA due to repeated disputes with
Ariel Sharon, who was the previous SCA. The government-appointed
Haim Bar-Lev, who was the former
Chief of the General Staff, as the new SCA in an emergency directive. After the
Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the southern front remained quiet and most of the activity centred on guarding the borders from
smugglers and fluid security over the
Gaza Strip. During the
Second Intifada, the Command was placed in charge-of
counter-terrorist efforts. The Gaza Strip, one of the most
densely populated places in the world, was known as a stronghold for
extremist groups such as
Hamas and
Islamic Jihad, who engaged in
Palestinian political violence. The local production and proliferation of light
anti-tank weapons by these groups, made travel by lightly armored vehicles dangerous. From 2004, the fighting in Gaza became especially intensive, and on the IDF's part, included
targeted killings, short armored expeditions, and efforts to locate and destroy the smuggling tunnels used by Palestinian militant groups to obtain weapons. During 2005, the Southern Command was involved in the
unilateral Gaza disengagement plan, initiated by
Ariel Sharon (Prime Minister of Israel, 2001–2006), which mainly entailed the removals of all
Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip and back to the Israeli side of the
Green Line. The Command re-situated itself north of the Gaza fence. The
Philadelphi Route was given to Egypt, who did not prevent the movement of thousands of
Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai through the city of
Rafah. , the attempt to infiltrate Israel to perform
suicide bombings and the launch of Qassam rockets, especially by Islamic Jihad and the
Popular Resistance Committees, remains ongoing and is the central focus of the Southern Command. On January 21, 2025, Finkelman submitted his resignation as commander of the Southern Command over the failures of October 7. He has stayed until a successor is named. == Command organization 2025 ==